Czech President Adds Pro-EU Voice to Central Bank Board

Czech President Milos Zeman Wednesday named economist and former politician Jiri Rusnok to the central bank’s monetary policy committee effective from March 1.

Mr. Rusnok, a former finance minister who was the country’s caretaker prime minister between June and late January, said the central bank will have to work with the Czech and European Union governments as part of its treaty obligations. (Read an interview with Mr. Rusnok from last month.)

He will bring a pro-European voice to the largely euro-skeptic bank board. He has previously said the adoption of the euro is a natural step for the Czech Republic and could take place by the end of the decade.

Ms. Zamrazilova will participate in Thursday’s monetary policy meeting at which the board is likely to keep rates unchanged and the bank’s weak-koruna policy intact. Mr. Rusnok takes his place on the seven-member board at the following policy meeting on March 27.

The new bank board member has also said that he “understands” the central bank’s reasoning to keep the koruna weak to fuel a rise in inflation.

In November, the bank intervened on foreign exchange markets to weaken the koruna versus the euro amid deflation fears. Since then consumer price inflation has begun accelerating as the central bank had hoped.

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